Today, the African National Congress celebrates 108 years since its formation.
We mark this occasion in the historic city of Kimberley in the Northern Cape, a place of resistance and struggle, and home to heroes of our people like Sol Plaatje, Frances Baard, Mittah Seperepere and many others.
The socio-political landscape of Apartheid South Africa was a challenging one for members of the LGBTQI+ community. Under the former National Party (NP), homosexuality was regarded a criminal activity, punishable by up to several years in prison. Rooted in their inherent fear of racial intermixing, The Apartheid State became increasingly anxious about the transgression of sex and sexuality; these “grey areas” threatened their perceived codes of conduct. Strict rules and regulations were set in place to control the transaction of sex and its public presentation.
In a 1947 letter to the Cape Town Clerk, the secretary of the Board of Trustees to the Cape Peninsula Cemeteries requested the establishment of a new cemetery in Stikland, Cape Town. Later that year, the Cape Times reported that the new cemetery will provide adequate burial ground to accommodate the Cape Peninsula’s dead for about the next 200 years. The cemetery was estimated to be ready for use by October with lush trees and flowering shrubs as well as 10 different allotments each sub-divided into 46 plots and 312 graves accompanying it.